History may be written by the winners, but it’s also written by people who weren’t there, and whose interpretations then become fodder for another generation that wasn’t there, either. And even if you were there, your memories don’t always correspond to those of your comrades.

Thus it has been with Michael Harrington’s memory and legacy. Today, his name is known only to the people who heard him speak or whom he recruited to the democratic-socialist movement, as well as to sociology students who might be assigned his most famous book, The Other America. Some newcomers to the movement have called those early recruits “Harringtonites,” a term none of us ever heard or would have thought of using.

Mike didn’t shy away from the limelight, but he didn’t believe in “condescending saviors.” He trusted in the intelligence of the people who made history from the bottom up. And he knew that the movement didn’t depend on one person for it to succeed.